Useless Information Podcast

The world's fastest bicyclist in the 1890's was Charles Minthorp Murphy and he was certain that there was no locomotive on Earth that could go faster than he could. To prove this, Murphy set a goal to ride one-mile in one-minute, a speed that few locomotives could achieve back then. It was the classic battle of man vs. machine. Also learn about the most popular song ever on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, a woman who gave birth twice in a taxi cab, the controversial first self-service gas stations, and a man who was convinced that he was being followed for miles. Retrosponsor: Mollé Shaving Cream Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Cleves Symmes was a popular lecturer back in the 1820's. Not only did Symmes believe that Newton got the concept of gravity totally wrong, he proposed that the Earth had a hollow interior and that one could enter this subterranean world via large holes at each of our poles. Symmes attracted a large number of supporters and his planned voyage to the North Pole was, at one point, debated and voted on by Congress. Also learn about the groundbreaking publication that Sir Edmund Halley financed, a scientist who suggested that the two moons of Mars were artificial, the relationship between gout and intelligence, and that the best cure for the hiccups may be sticking a rubber tube up your nose.  Retrosponsor: DuPont. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pennsylvania resident Jacob Silverman made national headlines back in 1922 for the crime of owning a dog named Dick within the commonwealth.  The law at the time required that Dick be killed simply because he was owned by Jacob. Could something be done to save Dick's life? Also learn about the only movie on the Internet Database website not rated on a scale of 1 to 10, a London woman who fed wild rats, the first cow to fly in an airplane, and a man who had his life saved by a turtle. Retrosponsor: Snickers candy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonus episode that includes an interview that I did back in 2014 with Lene Bech Sillesen and a recording of the NBC live news report when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1948, Dorothy Lawlor decided to take an ad out in the Newsday newspaper seeking a husband in exchange for $10,000. Within twenty-four hours she became a media sensation. Did she really marry one of these men?  The answer may surprise you.  Includes an interview with her granddaughter.  Also learn the original color of Muppet Oscar the Grouch, a 74-year-old man who advertised for his third wife, a woman who sought a husband to help pay off her debts, and a stenographer who lost her job after placing a personal ad in the newspaper. Retrosponsor: Canada Dry Club Water. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late 1950's and early 1960's, Anthony "Tino" De Angelis ran a global salad oil empire. Find out how Tino grew his business so quickly, his shocking downfall, how JFK’s assassination ties into the story, and the way that one of the world's richest men today made a good chunk of change off of everyone else’s misfortune.  Also learn about the original name for the game Twister, a doctor or strongly discouraged excessive exercisem a glue sniffing fad, and people that consumed lemon-scented dish soap.  Retrosponsor: Title Insurance and Trust Co. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When author Robert Louis Stevenson learned that young Vermont native Annie Ide hated her Christmas birthday, he decided to deed his own birthday to her. Listen to this episode to learn how she celebrated her new birthday and what happened after she died. Also learn about when the first Christmas card was printed, a man who got a living doll for Christmas, a boy who tried to emulate Santa, and a recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Retrosponsor: Hallmark Cards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 In May of 1929, Old Orchard Beach in Maine was the site for an airplane race that pitted the smaller, more nimble American Green Flash against larger, more powerful French Yellow Bird. Anticipation mounted for weeks as the two planes attempted to get off the ground. Also, learn about the world's first airline, a man who clung to the fuselage of an airplane, a man sucked into a jet engine, and an astronaut impersonator. Retrosponsor: Northwest Orient Airlines  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the S.E. Massengill Co. introduced its Elixir Sulfanilamide to the market in September 1937, there was no law in the United States requiring pharmaceutical companies to test their medicines for toxicity. In just the short time that this elixir produced, it took the lives of more than 100 people, many of whom were young children. Also learn about the world's most popular medicine, how the next generation of children were predicted to have teeth like Bugs Bunny, a woman who won a TV contest to get her nose fixed, and the relationship between breast size and intelligence.  Retrosponsor: Massengill Medicated Disposable Douche.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During desperate times some people are forced to do desperate things. The trick is to not get caught. Let's just say that Maybelle Trow Knox was not very good at that last part. Also learn the real name of Scooby Doo's best friend Shaggy, how Scooby Doo got his name, a teacher who used an electric chair to punish students, a girl too afraid to show her report card, and a boy who placed his loose tooth in his ear. Retrosponsor: Arrid deodorant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Great Depression was an awful time for farmers in Iowa.  It culminated with the near hanging of a judge in Le Mars. It just happens that the farm involved was owned by the T.M. Zink estate, the same man who left his savings for the establishment of a womanless library.  Also learn about the only planet in our solar system where its day is longer that its year and three unusual stories involving marriage annulment.  Retrosponsor: Spry Vegetable Shortening Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first of a 3-part series on Le Mars, Iowa from the 1930's. Le Mars was thrust into the national spotlight by the actions of just one man: a successful lawyer named T.M. Zink, who left nearly his entire estate for the establishment of a very unusual library. Listen to this podcast to determine whether Zink was truly mad or simply playing a good practical joke on the world.  Also learn about a man who pushed a heavy cart many mile off course, an artist's model fired for his Van Dyke beard, a waiter who poisoned his customers, and the original title of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Retrosponsor: Vicks VapoRub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was one of the first female doctors in the United States and is the only woman to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, until the government rescinded her award. Also learn about a woman who accidentally served her husband dog food for breakfast, three children found locked in a tool box, who CBS wanted to replace Rod Serling on the Twilight Zone with plus the title that ABC wished to rename the show. Retrosponsor: Ingram's Shaving Cream Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between 1942 and 1943 Ralph Marshall Wilby appeared to pull off what appeared to be the perfect crime. An incredible story that has many elements of an international thriller: deception, false identities, international kidnapping, and the drop dead gorgeous woman who brought his capture.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 5, 2000, Ines Ramirez Perez went into labor but was unable to get any medical care to help with the delivery. In a panic, Ines concluded that she had no other option than to deliver the baby herself.  She used an ordinary kitchen knife to perform a cesarean on herself. Find out what happened afterward and stories of other self-cesareans.  Also, learn about a toy made from Zectron, a man who had the ultimate solution for a sore throat, a doctor who removed his own appendix, and another man who washed his intestines under the kitchen faucet. Retrosponsor: Hind's Honey and Almond Cream.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in 1911, Wilkes-Barre, PA resident John Jay "Butch" McDevitt won the Democratic Primary for county treasurer. The only problem was that the Democratic Committee didn't want McDevitt on the ballot. Listen to this story to find out how the party got rid of him and how he capitalized on this for the rest of his life. Also, learn about three animals involved in politics and the first time that the red & blue electoral map was used on network television. Retrosponsor: Gracie Allen for President.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Halloween episode. Learn about a reputable California dentist named William Shyne who supposedly gave the children of his neighborhood lollipops and laxative pills for Halloween. Also, learn about a woman arrested for dressing like a man, a man who was arrested after purchasing Halloween candy for his wife, the day Princess Margaret was caught smoking a cigarette, and the best-selling Halloween candy in the United States. Retrosponsor: Rogers Bros. Plated Silverware Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 6, 1946 a young woman was arrested in Palisades Park, NJ for refusing to provide a police officer with her name. She had been cooperative in every way but refused to provide that single piece of information. Her story soon became front page news nationwide. Also learn about discontinued Monopoly game tokens, the Hear-See recording system, the introduction of the Radarange, and what was to be called the "Tape Age." Retrosponsor: The American Weekly magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The everything ice cream episode! Learn about an ongoing war between ice cream vendors, which included bombings, gunfire, torching of trucks, and threats. Also, learn about a ban on using glue in ice cream, a pharmacy robbery where one of the bandits served ice cream, and a woman who set up a $20,000 ice cream trust fund. Retrosponsor: Sealtest Ice Cream Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in 1935, Yonkers, NY made international news for arresting five NYC women who wore shorts and bandana halters. At one point, the Yonkers' aldermen proposed the building of a fence around the entire Tibbetts Brook Park to keep the undesirable people out. Also, learn about one man's attempt to shut down a nudist colony, two men forced to hike nude for many miles, a topless cellist, and the only company still on the Dow Jones Industrial Average that was on the original list. Retrosponsor: Manischewitz Matzo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices